The fellow known as Jon Chess sat in the common room of the Pig & Whistle tavern in the city of Stormwind, sipping at his mug of Suramar Spiced Tea. He had been asked by his former scout team member, Telcontyr, for a meeting, but the note had not indicated the subject of the meeting.
Jon sat at his usual table, the one located under the stairs; when Jon had been a private investigator, this had been his de facto office for client meetings; it was dark, it was comfortable, there was food and drink readily available, and the clientele of the Pig & Whistle were often shady characters or outright criminals, ideal for meeting informants. Smuggling, larceny, assassination, bribery... all of those things were common practice in the Old Town section of Stormwind, and Chess had cultivated a very good reputation for keeping his nose out of others' business until or unless it impacted himself or his customers.
He watched as Telcontry, or "Tyr", as Jon called him, entered the Pig & Whistle, looked around, found Chess, and moved to join him. As he approached, Jon remembered how he had found Telcontyr in the Stormwind Stockade, awaiting trial for the destruction of private property (he had set fire to the war banners of the Scarlet Crusaders recruiting near the Cathedral) and resisting attest by the Stormwind Guards.
Jon had met with Matthias Shaw earlier that day - Shaw had reactivated his rank as a Commander in the Alliance Recon Scouts and charged him with building a fire team for operations in Zandalar. Jon had contacted some of his old friends from his service in Northrend but had needed more people, and the kind of skills useful for a Recon Scout was the same kind of skills needed as a Recon Scout - sneaking around enemy forces, stealing or destroying maps, plans, or supplies, and killing silently without hesitation. Jon had offered Tyr a place on his team and arranged to have him freed when Tyr had accepted. They had worked well together since, on or off the record.
"Commander, its good to see you," greeted Tyr, a white smile in an otherwise deep-blue countenance.
"I've told you - my name is Chess, Jon Chess. Either. Or. Not Commander - I've retired again," Chess reminded him.
"Yes Commander," Telconttyr responded with an insolent grin.
Jon sighed. "Hopeless"
"So... Commander... I want to ask a favor, and I want you to hear me out before you say no, OK?"
Jon nodded.
"I need you to loan me 25,000 gold so I can have a motorcycle built. I've joined the Onyx Jackals, and they say until I have a motorcycle, I'm a pledge - which means everybody's servant."
Jon laughed. "Oh, Fel-Shadows and Little Ravens... is this because I sent you with the payment for my repair bill? I thought it was because you wanted to buy something to impress Linenia, like a diamond ring or something."
"She is rich - there isn't anything I could buy her that she'd actually want, really," Telcontyr replied, his face flushing a deeper indigo as he blushed.
"I doubt that has ever stopped men from trying before," Jon said, laughing.
"Yeah, well..." Tyr responded. "I suspect that she can't be bought by anything I can afford..."
"No, but it might please her, you trying?" Jon teased. "Still, what makes you think I have 25 thousand just sitting around for the giving?"
"Do you?: Telcontyr asked.
"Well, two possibilities exist... If I don't have that much cash I'd tell you 'No'/ If I did have that much money sitting around, uninvested, the answer, I would be a complete idiot to tell known criminals like ourselves that I had that piled up, just waiting to e stolen, so I suppose that the answer is 'No'" Jon said, adding when Tyr's eye dropped dejectedly. "But I know someone who DOES have that much cash laying around..."
"Oh? Whose that?" asked Telcontyr, his smile returning like a wilful housecat at feeding time.
"Jastor Gallywix, the Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel."
Jon sat at his usual table, the one located under the stairs; when Jon had been a private investigator, this had been his de facto office for client meetings; it was dark, it was comfortable, there was food and drink readily available, and the clientele of the Pig & Whistle were often shady characters or outright criminals, ideal for meeting informants. Smuggling, larceny, assassination, bribery... all of those things were common practice in the Old Town section of Stormwind, and Chess had cultivated a very good reputation for keeping his nose out of others' business until or unless it impacted himself or his customers.
He watched as Telcontry, or "Tyr", as Jon called him, entered the Pig & Whistle, looked around, found Chess, and moved to join him. As he approached, Jon remembered how he had found Telcontyr in the Stormwind Stockade, awaiting trial for the destruction of private property (he had set fire to the war banners of the Scarlet Crusaders recruiting near the Cathedral) and resisting attest by the Stormwind Guards.
Jon had met with Matthias Shaw earlier that day - Shaw had reactivated his rank as a Commander in the Alliance Recon Scouts and charged him with building a fire team for operations in Zandalar. Jon had contacted some of his old friends from his service in Northrend but had needed more people, and the kind of skills useful for a Recon Scout was the same kind of skills needed as a Recon Scout - sneaking around enemy forces, stealing or destroying maps, plans, or supplies, and killing silently without hesitation. Jon had offered Tyr a place on his team and arranged to have him freed when Tyr had accepted. They had worked well together since, on or off the record.
"Commander, its good to see you," greeted Tyr, a white smile in an otherwise deep-blue countenance.
"I've told you - my name is Chess, Jon Chess. Either. Or. Not Commander - I've retired again," Chess reminded him.
"Yes Commander," Telconttyr responded with an insolent grin.
Jon sighed. "Hopeless"
"So... Commander... I want to ask a favor, and I want you to hear me out before you say no, OK?"
Jon nodded.
"I need you to loan me 25,000 gold so I can have a motorcycle built. I've joined the Onyx Jackals, and they say until I have a motorcycle, I'm a pledge - which means everybody's servant."
Jon laughed. "Oh, Fel-Shadows and Little Ravens... is this because I sent you with the payment for my repair bill? I thought it was because you wanted to buy something to impress Linenia, like a diamond ring or something."
"She is rich - there isn't anything I could buy her that she'd actually want, really," Telcontyr replied, his face flushing a deeper indigo as he blushed.
"I doubt that has ever stopped men from trying before," Jon said, laughing.
"Yeah, well..." Tyr responded. "I suspect that she can't be bought by anything I can afford..."
"No, but it might please her, you trying?" Jon teased. "Still, what makes you think I have 25 thousand just sitting around for the giving?"
"Do you?: Telcontyr asked.
"Well, two possibilities exist... If I don't have that much cash I'd tell you 'No'/ If I did have that much money sitting around, uninvested, the answer, I would be a complete idiot to tell known criminals like ourselves that I had that piled up, just waiting to e stolen, so I suppose that the answer is 'No'" Jon said, adding when Tyr's eye dropped dejectedly. "But I know someone who DOES have that much cash laying around..."
"Oh? Whose that?" asked Telcontyr, his smile returning like a wilful housecat at feeding time.
"Jastor Gallywix, the Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel."
No comments:
Post a Comment